News & Publications
Lemmon v Body Corporate Units Plan 37 CS 20829 of 2002 – Small Claims Court of ACT Magistrates Court
In this case, water accumulated on the balcony walkway (which was part of common property) and then flowed into unit 13B which effectively destroyed the carpet in that unit. Section 24 of the UTMA (or more precisely section 51 of the old Unit Titles Act) was found to...
Case Note: The Owners – Units Plan No 2737 v Ryan & Anor (Unit Titles) [2016] ACAT 43
The respondents owned and occupied a ground floor unit and in 2006, were given written permission to plant two trees in their courtyard. In fact, three trees were planted. These trees flourished and soon began to interfere with the amenity of the unit directly above...
Case Note: Parker v The Owners – Units Plan No 36 (Unit Titles) [2014] ACAT 37
A unit owner sought, among other orders, an urgent order to stay the removal of a eucalyptus tree and required remedial measures be taken to retain the tree. The executive committee had authorised the removal of the tree (i.e. the facts are the reverse of those in the...
Case Note: May v The Owners – Units Plan No 116 (Unit Titles) [2014] ACAT 38
A unit owner sought, amongst other orders, an order from ACAT for the removal of a large Brittle Gum from the common property near his premises. When the matter first came before ACAT for directions, it was established that the question of removal of the tree was best...
Case Note: The Owners – Units Plan No 2849 v Conservator of Flora and Fauna (Administrative Review) [2016] ACAT 106
On 18 December 2015, the applicant applied to the respondent to damage three different trees by removing them. Tree assessment reports were prepared on 12 January 2016 and tree 1 (being the subject of this decision) was found to be in good health. On 22 January 2016,...
New Dispute Resolution Scheme under the Building Act 2004
In response to a substantial increase in the number of formal complaints about building matters since 2010, the new Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2020 introduced a new dispute resolution scheme in the ACT for residential building disputes by...
Spedding v The Owners – Units Plan 3941 (Unit Titles) [2022] ACAT 49
The issue in this case was whether reduced quorum decisions made at an annual general meeting held on 16 December 2021 took effect where the owners corporation gave notice of the reduced quorum decisions to unit owners on 4 January 2022, that is, more than seven...
What Is An Unreasonable Reason To Refuse To Make A By-Law?
The Appeal Panel in Kaye v The Owners – SP 4350 [2022] NSWCATAP 173 (Kaye) have provided a number of reasons why an owners corporation was reasonable in refusing to make a common property rights by-law. In that case, a lot owner requested that the Owners Corporation...
Can An Owners Corporation Add Its Legal Fees For Recovering Unpaid Contributions To The Defaulting Lot Owner’s Ledger?
Although only a local court assessor’s matter, the case of The Owners - Strata Plan No 52098 v Khalil [2014] NSWLC 2 stands for not putting legal costs onto a lot’s ledger until they have been either the subject of a costs order in the Tribunal or a court. Paragraph...
Henry Kazar v Italian & Continental Bakery Pty Ltd & Anor [2008] ACTSC 9 (8 February 2008)
It should be noted that the relevant legislation in place at the time of this judgement is identical to the current sections 136 – 140 of the UTMA except that ACAT has replaced the ACT Magistrates Court as the relevant governing body. Italian & Continental Bakery...
Gracie v The Owners – Units Plan No 3411 & Ors (Unit Titles) [2016] ACAT 3
In this case, the owners corporation comprised two stages which were developed by Statehay Pty Ltd. Stage 1, known as Lakeside, comprised 112 units and was completed in about 2009. Stage 2, known as Central Park, comprised 128 units and was completed in April 2014....
Filaria Pty Ltd v Proprietors of Units Plan 932 [2002] ACTSC 8 (1 March 2002)
In this case, court proceedings were commenced seeking an order pursuant to section 92(2) of the Unit Titles Act 1970 (ACT) that David Bowditch be appointed an administrator of the owners corporation. The facts were not in any significant dispute and the real issue...